Sound Card Gives Tiny Raspberry Pi PC a Voice

The company behind the Raspberry Pi have released a sound card designed specifically for the $35 Linux-based computer.

The new audio card, developed by audio chip maker Wolfson Microelectronics, is available exclusively through Farnell Element 14, which manufactures the Raspberry Pi. At $33 a pop, the add-on board is almost as expensive as a Raspberry Pi itself.

It fits right into the Raspberry Pi, letting you connect headphones, microphones, and other external audio sources, such as loudspeakers, to the tiny computer. It also boasts a built-in microphone and Wolfson audio processor, enabling high-resolution audio playback "normally found on high-end audio equipment."

"The Wolfson Audio Card brings an incredibly exciting audio development capability to the millions of people who already use the Raspberry Pi," David Shen, CTO at Element14, said in a statement. "With its comprehensive feature set, ease of use and extreme audio quality, designers will have a completely new audio toolset from which to work from."

Besides letting you record and play back HD audio, it can, for instance, be used to create a voice-controlled wireless home media network capable of running "better-than-CD quality" music playback, the companies said. You can also connect a boom microphone and headset to make hands-free calls over VoIP, or connect your Raspberry Pi to the cloud and play your music around the house.

The Wolfson Audio Card is available in Europe from Farnell Element 14, CPC in the U.K. and Ireland, Newark Element14 and MCM in North America, and Element14 in the Asia Pacific region. Note that it is only compatible with Raspberry Pi devices that feature P5 pads, which can be found on Revision 2 models and later.

Angela has been a PCMag reporter since January 2012. Prior to joining the team, she worked as a reporter for SC Magazine, covering everything related to hackers and computer security. Angela has also written for The Northern Valley Suburbanite in New Jersey, The Dominion Post in West Virginia, and the Uniontown-Herald Standard in Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of West Virginia University's Perely Isaac Reed School of Journalism.
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